In his two seasons as the starting quarterback at Texas A&M, the LSU Tigers were the only opponent which had Johnny Manziel’s number.

During the Aggies’ meetings with the Tigers, Manziel was 45-of-97 passing for 500 yards, a touchdown and five interceptions. Texas A&M lost both games.

How the Tigers were able to rein in Manziel and his top wide receiver, Mike Evans, has been a topic of discussion around the NFL.

“The people I spoke with at the combine who have an interest in drafting a quarterback want to see Manziel play better when hemmed in, as he was against LSU last year,” MMQB.com’s Peter King wrote. “I find it interesting that [Alabama’s] Nick Saban didn’t emphasize keeping Manziel inside the tackle box (or if he did, it just didn’t work) the way LSU coach Les Miles did.”

Evans described the type of looks LSU gave Texas A&M to get the Aggies’ offense out of its rhythm.

“I was getting more cloud coverage to my side and doubled more,” Evans told USA TODAY Sports. “Johnny was battling some injuries at the end of the season. It just didn’t click for us.

“They didn’t jam me. They doubled me by leaving a man over the top. Or they’d put cover me in man with Cover 2 to my side.”

LSU exploited a potential weakness in Manziel’s game. They took away his top receiver and didn’t allow him to break the pocket.

In cloud coverage, the cornerback is tasked with covering the short area of the field while the safeties and opposite cornerback drop back in a soft Cover 3 shell.

In this instance, the cornerback to Evans’ side would play the short-area in the flat. He will attempt to jam the receiver to knock him off his route as the safety rolls coverage over the top.

In Cover 2 man, the cornerbacks will play man-coverage on the wide receivers, while the safeties play zone with each covering half of the field.

LSU essentially dared Manziel to beat them from the pocket as a passer.

If Manziel’s top target wasn’t available, it was clear he had trouble getting to his next option. And the quarterback only averaged 2.9 yards per carry in the two contests.

A week after LSU beat Texas A&M 34-10, Missouri duplicated the game plan. They slow-played their pass rush, which didn’t allow Manziel to take off from the pocket. They took Evans out of the offense by rolling coverage to his side, and Manziel struggled during the 28-21 loss.

This is the game plan NFL teams will utilize until Manziel proves he can beat it. He has yet to show he can. It’s why those in the NFL are curious to see how he’s improved as a pure pocket passer.

The bigger concern is Texas A&M never really figured out how those teams were able to shut them down.